baltimore is not alone in this. we have become two americas in some fundamental and economic ways but baltimore has its strengths and its weaknesses, much like new orleans. if there is a difference, in new orleans you can make statements about culture and its affect on community and the relationship between community and culture because the culture is out in the street. it's visual. it can be heard. it manifests itself in some very vibrant ways, it can carry a tune in the way baltimore can't. the same dynamic is going on in both places. these cities are trying to find their way and they're doing so on their own terms. a lot of our popular culture comes to us from los angeles and new york and our political culture from d.c. these are very artificial environments. the rest of the country is an urban environment or we're all clustered around metro regions but they don't have things as artificial as new york is the financial center or the entertainment hub that is los angeles or the government hub that is washington. th